Hey everyone! So some of you may no know me, most of you probably don't. I used to be really active back in DPP and took a break through the shitstorm that was Gen5 Weathermons. I used to play lots of UU and OU back in the day, and those tiers have always been my go-to (although RU in Gen 6 is hella fun too). Gen 6 rekindled my love for competitive mons and after a lot of fucking around on the ladder, I decided to sit down and try to build a halfway decent team. I think I'm onto something, but it's not quite their yet. Team has peaked at the low 1600s but then I started a losing skid and I'm not sure where to go.
Team Building History (brief)
I started out with MegaPinsir because it's one of the best late game cleaners in the game right now. Probably second to TalonFlame, but I like M-Pinsir more than TalonFlame, because it doesn't take recoil when it attacks. Biggest problems with M-Pinsir are it's shitty typing and marginally usable defenses. I decided to support it with a FWG core of Heatran, Ferrothorn and Gyarados. [Originally I had SleepSeed Venusaur, but decided to go to Ferrothorn since it has better typing, defenses and ability.] I had Tornadus over Raikou in the beginning, but went with Raikou so I could absorb T-Waves and take special hits a little better. Other than that, the team has pretty much been like this from the beginning. I'll go into more detail below.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Taunt
SpDef Balloon Heatran is faaaaaaaantastic. Checks any and every non-Earth Power Heatran, doesn't scared of lead Landorus-T and also beats Sand Rush Exadrill (assuming it still has a balloon), among a myriad of other threats. Stealth Rock is for Stealth Rock, my only form of residual damage, if you don't count Leech Seed on Ferrothorn. Taunt takes care of slower status mons and prevents slow Wish users like Chansey or Sylveon from doing their thing. Also prevents CM Clefable from setting up and can roar any of the aforementioned Pokemon away. Max HP and Def to survive longer. Lava Plume pretty much just exists so I'm not taunt bait and also for the occasional burn. I have tried switching Balloon for Leftovers, but more often than not, I found myself wishing for a Balloon more than Leftovers.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 192 Atk / 4 Def / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
<3 DD Gyara is here to break down opposing teams to make way for Pinsir to clean up later. I chose Gyara because Intimidate gives me a free chance to set up a DD sometimes. Waterfall and Bounce are for Dual STAB and great coverage. Taunt is to keep Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave away from me, as well as stupid Leech Seed Ferrothorns. Bounce wrecks any grass type that tries to switch in (except Ferrothorn). Waterfall is pretty much for everything else. EV distribution is based on the Smogon page for maximizing bulk power and speed. Not a whole lot to say really. The biggest problem I've run into though is teams with dual bulky waters really present an issue. Gyara can usually tear through one bulky water, but two of them present huge problems across the board for me.
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off
Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn is pretty standard. Really shits all over physical attackers who take 29% from Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet. If you add in Life Orb and/or attack recoil, it can easily top 50% recoil damage. Thunder Wave is great for the switch, and can cripple opposing fire-types and fastmons who might switch in to stop Ferrothorn. Knock Off is really just for support. I chose it over Gyro Ball or Power Whip because the value of knocking off an enemies item is more important to me than a STAB attack. Leech Seed is Leech Seed, pretty obvious why it's there. Went with Protect over substitute for things like MegaCham and stuff that uses HJK, as well as general scouting ability.
Raikou @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Extrasensory
- Thunderbolt
Scarf Raikou has won me a surprising number of games. Volt Switch is to scout switches and hopefully shift momentum in my favor. Shadow Ball and Extrasensory are really just it's only viable non-Electric attacks, besides Hidden Power. Aura Sphere would be cool, but I don't want to run a Rash nature. Thunderbolt is to round out the moveset. Not a whole lot to say, it's a scarfed Raikou.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
Second Air Balloon pokemon! Excadrill is my spinner and whatever else it can do. Primary job though, is clearing hazards that might slow me down (metaphorically and literally). Thanks to Air Balloon, it is not afflicted by Spikes or Sticky Web. Earthquake and Iron Head are for dual STAB coverage and Rock Slide is just there for switches. Mold Breaker is really nice for Rotom and Gengar as well as any other levitate users, but primarily those two. Jolly Nature chosen so I can outspeed various things that would otherwise stop me.
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Earthquake
Pinsir used to be my favorite pokemon in RBY and it's really nice to see him useful. Hyper Cutter prevents Gyarados, Landorus-T and others from lowering my attack, enabling me to get the full benefit of Swords Dance. +2 Return pretty much OHKOs the metagame. Earthquake over Close Combat because of Heatran and because I don't want to have lowered defenses which would make me more susceptible to priority attacks. Quick Attack is my own form of priority to pick off faster mons that would otherwise end my sweep. Jolly Nature reaches 339 speed on Mega Evolve, which outspeeds a healthy portion of the metagame.
So that's my team. I feel like it's close to being something better, but at the moment it's not. The only pokemon I absolutely will not drop from the team is Pinsir, but I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Cheers.
Team Building History (brief)
I started out with MegaPinsir because it's one of the best late game cleaners in the game right now. Probably second to TalonFlame, but I like M-Pinsir more than TalonFlame, because it doesn't take recoil when it attacks. Biggest problems with M-Pinsir are it's shitty typing and marginally usable defenses. I decided to support it with a FWG core of Heatran, Ferrothorn and Gyarados. [Originally I had SleepSeed Venusaur, but decided to go to Ferrothorn since it has better typing, defenses and ability.] I had Tornadus over Raikou in the beginning, but went with Raikou so I could absorb T-Waves and take special hits a little better. Other than that, the team has pretty much been like this from the beginning. I'll go into more detail below.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Taunt
SpDef Balloon Heatran is faaaaaaaantastic. Checks any and every non-Earth Power Heatran, doesn't scared of lead Landorus-T and also beats Sand Rush Exadrill (assuming it still has a balloon), among a myriad of other threats. Stealth Rock is for Stealth Rock, my only form of residual damage, if you don't count Leech Seed on Ferrothorn. Taunt takes care of slower status mons and prevents slow Wish users like Chansey or Sylveon from doing their thing. Also prevents CM Clefable from setting up and can roar any of the aforementioned Pokemon away. Max HP and Def to survive longer. Lava Plume pretty much just exists so I'm not taunt bait and also for the occasional burn. I have tried switching Balloon for Leftovers, but more often than not, I found myself wishing for a Balloon more than Leftovers.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 192 Atk / 4 Def / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
<3 DD Gyara is here to break down opposing teams to make way for Pinsir to clean up later. I chose Gyara because Intimidate gives me a free chance to set up a DD sometimes. Waterfall and Bounce are for Dual STAB and great coverage. Taunt is to keep Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave away from me, as well as stupid Leech Seed Ferrothorns. Bounce wrecks any grass type that tries to switch in (except Ferrothorn). Waterfall is pretty much for everything else. EV distribution is based on the Smogon page for maximizing bulk power and speed. Not a whole lot to say really. The biggest problem I've run into though is teams with dual bulky waters really present an issue. Gyara can usually tear through one bulky water, but two of them present huge problems across the board for me.
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off
Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn is pretty standard. Really shits all over physical attackers who take 29% from Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet. If you add in Life Orb and/or attack recoil, it can easily top 50% recoil damage. Thunder Wave is great for the switch, and can cripple opposing fire-types and fastmons who might switch in to stop Ferrothorn. Knock Off is really just for support. I chose it over Gyro Ball or Power Whip because the value of knocking off an enemies item is more important to me than a STAB attack. Leech Seed is Leech Seed, pretty obvious why it's there. Went with Protect over substitute for things like MegaCham and stuff that uses HJK, as well as general scouting ability.
Raikou @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Extrasensory
- Thunderbolt
Scarf Raikou has won me a surprising number of games. Volt Switch is to scout switches and hopefully shift momentum in my favor. Shadow Ball and Extrasensory are really just it's only viable non-Electric attacks, besides Hidden Power. Aura Sphere would be cool, but I don't want to run a Rash nature. Thunderbolt is to round out the moveset. Not a whole lot to say, it's a scarfed Raikou.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
Second Air Balloon pokemon! Excadrill is my spinner and whatever else it can do. Primary job though, is clearing hazards that might slow me down (metaphorically and literally). Thanks to Air Balloon, it is not afflicted by Spikes or Sticky Web. Earthquake and Iron Head are for dual STAB coverage and Rock Slide is just there for switches. Mold Breaker is really nice for Rotom and Gengar as well as any other levitate users, but primarily those two. Jolly Nature chosen so I can outspeed various things that would otherwise stop me.
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Earthquake
Pinsir used to be my favorite pokemon in RBY and it's really nice to see him useful. Hyper Cutter prevents Gyarados, Landorus-T and others from lowering my attack, enabling me to get the full benefit of Swords Dance. +2 Return pretty much OHKOs the metagame. Earthquake over Close Combat because of Heatran and because I don't want to have lowered defenses which would make me more susceptible to priority attacks. Quick Attack is my own form of priority to pick off faster mons that would otherwise end my sweep. Jolly Nature reaches 339 speed on Mega Evolve, which outspeeds a healthy portion of the metagame.
So that's my team. I feel like it's close to being something better, but at the moment it's not. The only pokemon I absolutely will not drop from the team is Pinsir, but I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Cheers.
